Of Flesh and Blood: The Untold Story of the Cajun Cannibal

Bys: Lavin, N. L. and Burke, Hunter

A forensic psychiatrist's investigation into an infamous Louisiana serial killer leads him down a dangerous path of obsession as he discovers they share the same cursed blood.

This chilling debut horror novel will captivate readers of Chasing the Boogeyman and What Moves the Dead and fans of True Detective.

In 2008, a serial killer known as the Cajun Cannibal brutally murders and consumes the flesh of eight people in a small Louisiana parish. With law enforcement closing in on him, he takes his own life before he can face the inside of a courtroom.

Ten years later, when forensic psychiatrist Dr. Vincent Blackburn discovers he and the Cajun Cannibal are more closely connected than he realized, he begins a case study into the sociopathy behind the killer's grisly deeds, only to find a torrent of small town politics, interracial family dynamics, and whispers of the supernatural muddying once clear waters.

When copycat killings start anew, Vincent is thrust into the center of it all, putting his life, his family, and his own sanity at risk. As monsters--both figurative and literal--begin to manifest, Vincent discovers that untangling the truth from the lies is only the beginning of his nightmare.

Told through the pages of Dr. Vincent Blackburn's case study memoir, and certain to appeal to readers of A Flicker in the Dark, this macabre psychological horror will leave your heart racing.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0DHNHXXLV
• ISBN13: 9798892422468
• Release Date: June 2025
• Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

The search and madness!

I have always been interested in the peeling back of the human psyche (I took my share of psych classes in college for fun), especially when it has deviated from the so called norm. Is it a product of genes, environment, or something else? And that is why I enjoyed listening to this story. The first section gathers the story of the Cajun Cannibal from witnesses and makes up what Dr. Vincent Blackburn researched for his dissertation. I loved the bits that were the tapes Henri made, and then the statements of the witnesses (you have the clicks of recording and the narrators sound like it would be if it were a police recording) which made it feel real. And that would be horrible and fascinating enough but then you get the slow unraveling of Vincent as he continues his research for a book and his new ideas about what might have happened back in 2008. Unreliable narrator, possible supernatural killer (or is it all in his head) and even more bodies showing up, despite the alleged Cajun Cannibal being killed. It made for a thrilling read and I enjoyed it very much. So, if you fictional police procedure that sounds real and then diving into horror and possible madness down south, then you will enjoy this. I really liked the way it was done as an audiobook, with a cast of narrators bringing the characters and the story to life and keeping me hooked to find out the truth!